Only Ukraine's military victory over Russia can lead to peace talks — official

Stepan Havrysh, former First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, stated this on Espreso TV.

"We need to abandon illusions. The Russian-Ukrainian war has no analogues except World War II. Currently, confronting a nuclear state is a problem not only for Ukraine but for the entire West. The West fears the use of the nuclear button in war and doesn't understand when this might happen, how it could occur, or whether it will happen at all," Havrysh noted.

The former First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council recalled that China has deployed 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles on the border with Mongolia. This represents the nearest possibility of an attack on Russia, but it's also likely part of China's overall strategy to possess nuclear weapons. In other words, we're talking about intensive preparation for World War III. Putin understands this and is intensifying military escalation. He doesn't consider it necessary to act from a position of rationality.

"Currently, we're moving in the wrong direction and see no prospects. Seeking peace in the middle ground is absolutely illusory and wrong. The main problem lies not only in the fact that this is a protracted war of attrition where resources will prevail and Russia will fall. We don't know when that will happen. The main problem is that Putin today is the strongest figure who dominates and imposes his policy, and no one can do anything about it.

We're looking for some kind of agreements, but we must draw a conclusion: either we seek peace and then capitulate on Russia's terms, or we must understand that only our military victory on the front and resistance to Russia can give us a chance to talk about future peace," Havrysh emphasized.

• Diplomat Volodymyr Yelchenko noted that despite statements about negotiations, no real agreements on ending the war are taking place. Putin demonstrates daily that he has no intention of making concessions and is ready to continue the war for as long as he deems necessary.